The deamination of aliphatic amines is a research area which consists, in the present case, of reactions which convert primary amines into alcohol derivatives as the transformation of primary interest. The reaction will be treated in the general sense - as involving a family of reactions that yield carbonium ion-counterion ion pairs. Relative to solvolysis, these ion pairs have unusual properties in view of their being generated with a relatively inert gas molecule between the partners. The carbonium ion formed is highly reactive since it is not solvated in the sense that the corresponding ion formed in solvolysis is. We plan to make use of this high reactivity in reactions of synthetic and biological utility. Model substrates could lead to the generation of carbonium ions that could react irreversibly, tagging the active site of enzymes. We have successfully inhibited chymotrypsin irreversibly by this method and now plan to degrade the inhibited enzyme to determine which amino acids were modified. Synthetic applications will involve high yield methods for converting amines into alcohol derivatives. We also plan to continue our work on the mechanism of deamination and the relationship of this reaction to solvolysis analogs. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: "Effect of Pressure on the Stereochemistry of Ion Pair Collapse in the N-Nitrosamide Deamination, William J. LeNoble, Emil H. White and Petar M. Dzadzic, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 98, 4020 (1976).